swingle: new genus pleiospermium 429 



Distribution: Southern India and Ceylon; common in the hot, 

 drier parts. 



The writer has seen an authentic flowering twig of this species col- 

 lected by Wight unde^ his number 324 and now in the Kew Herbarium ; 

 on the same sheet are two twigs from Wallich's set under his number 

 6363. There is also in Kew Herbarium a sheet of three twigs with 

 full grown fruits, collected by Wight (No. 370) at Palagantcherry in 

 1850. In the Berlin Herbarium there is a sheet of material from 

 Wight's Herbarium distributed by Kew in 1866-7 under No. 370, 

 Peninsula Indiae orientalis, which has 7 twigs, 3 of them in flower. 



This species is called Tumpat-kurundu in the Singhalese language 

 of Ceylon. 



2. Pleiospermium dubium (Blume) Swingle. 



fLimonia diphylla Houttuyn, Natuurl. Hist., II. 2: 440, pi. 9, fig. 

 2. 1774; [Christman] Linne Pflanzensystem nach. . . . Hout- 

 tuynisch. Werks Ubers., 1: 615, pi. 9, fig. 2. 1777. 

 Limonia? dubia Blume, Bijdr. Fl. Ned. Ind., 1: 133. 1825. 

 Paramignia Blumei Hasskarl, Tijdr. Nat. Gesch., 10 : 137-138. 1843. 

 Paramignya Blumei Hasskarl, Cat. PL Hort. Bogor., 216. 1844. 

 Type locality- "In collibus calcareis prope Kuripan, Provinciae 

 Buitenzorg," Java. 



Distribution: Western Java. 



Hasskarl in 1843 transferred this plant to the genus Paramignya, at 

 the same time changing the specific name to Blumei. Hochreutiner in 

 Plantae Bogorienses Exsiccatae, under No. Ill, Limonia dubia Blume, 

 says that the plant growing in the Buitenzorg Garden is undoubtedly 

 the original of Hasskarl and probably the same as that seen by Blume, 

 though the absence of Blume's type makes it difficult to be certain. 7 



Fortunately there is in the herbarium of the Museum d'Histoire 

 Naturelle at Paris an authentic specimen of this species from Blume. The 

 original label reads "Limonia dubia M. Blume 1836." This specimen 

 consists of a spineless twig of three seasons' growth with 19 nodes bear- 

 ing 1-, 2-, or 3-foliolate leaves, very like the specimens distributed by 

 Hochreutiner from the type plant of Paramignya Blumei Hasskarl. 8 



7 "Cette plante est sans aucun doute 1' original de Hasskarl qui a complete 

 tres exactement la diagnose de Blume. Quant a affirmer que c'est bien la 1'espece 

 que Blume avait en vue, cela est plus difficile en l'absence d'un type de cet auteur; 

 cependant c'est probable." — Hochreutiner, B. P. G., loc. cit. 



8 Probably Blume planted in the Buitenzorg Botanic Garden the tree from 

 which the branch now in the Paris Herbarium was cut and upon which later on, 

 Hasskarl based his description of Paramignya Blumei. In this event all the 

 specimens cut from this tree (III. G. 64, in the Buitenzorg records) are merotypes 

 of HasskaiTs species. 



